Monthly Archives: February 2009

 Editor's Note: This article, while dated, appeared in Mshale's inauguration print edition.

Washington, DC– ‘Obama-mania’ and ‘Obama-phoria’ easily describe the atmosphere in Washington DC during the week of President Barack Obama’s Inauguration. 

But after my five-day visit ‘pilgrimage’ seemed most apt to describe the huge presence of attendees of African descent. There were African Americans from Alabama, Louisiana, Illinois, Texas and elsewhere, as well as people from the Caribbean Islands, as well as Africans from all over the US and the continent. 

In his 457 page autobiographical book “Dreams from My Father”, Barack Obama exposes a great mind destined to greatness.

As Shakespeare once wrote in his philosophical discourse – “some (men) are born great, some achieve greatness, and others have greatness thrust upon them.” To be fair to Barack Hussein Obama, America’s 44th President and the first African American to occupy the White House, he has earned his greatness.

He literally worked his way up from scratch – from a mere statistic to the most powerful man on the face of the earth! Yes, a remarkable young man!

Barack Obama, the 44th President of the United States, and his new administration face a multitude of extraordinary challenges that demand unified, nonpartisan solutions. The soaring unemployment rate, plummeting stock markets, mortgage crisis, and financial sector chaos make the current economic crisis the top concern for the Obama administration. The two unfinished wars are high priorities as well, with Obama promising to withdraw U.S. troops from the war in Iraq within 16 months and shift the emphasis to the Afghanistan conflict.

Like most kids, Rita Apaloo’s daughter has watched her mother closely. She sees enough value in her mother’s monthly African Women Connect meetings to give her parents some advice.

“Dad should start an African Men Connect group,” she told them.

Rokia Traoré says she’s not a traditional Malian singer.  Listening to her album, Bowmboi, it’s clear she’s not contemporary rock-n-roll either.  While difficult to pigeonhole, her music is easy to appreciate.  BBC Radio endorsed Traoré’s music when they nominated her—three times—for a World Music award.

The wisdom of God flows through each of us, including our leaders.  Once this wisdom is realized and activated, problems will begin to diminish.  We need to continually pray that His wisdom is drawn on each and every day by our leaders and by each of us individually.   
If the results we get aren’t answering our problems, we aren’t solving the problem at the level He expects us to operate.   We need to solve issues at a higher level than the problem was originally created.